Running/Breathing

CHRISTOPHERGUESS said:

As I inrease my pace during a run I notice myself taking
shallower breaths, with an occasional deep, satisfying
breath. Also, I notice myself breathing faster (more
breaths per minute). It seems to be a way of controlling
my breathing & I can see an effect on my endurance after
several runs at a faster pace. It's almost like learning
to control your breathing is more of the secret to
developing lung capacity than sheer speed alone. Any
similar experience?

Many of us synchronise our breathing with our running. For
example, when running at an easy pace, one can breathe in
for 3 steps (left-right-left) then out for another three (right-left-
right). As one speeds up, one drops into a 2 in 2 out
breathing pattern. Some people (but not me) even use a 2-3
rhythm as an intermediate step.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

I haven't tried to do this, it just came naturally. Teaching
yourself to breathe seems to be a difficult undertaking. How
did train yourself?

CHRISTOPHERGUESS said:

As I inrease my pace during a run I notice myself taking
shallower breaths, with an occasional deep, satisfying
breath. Also, I notice myself breathing faster (more
breaths per minute). It seems to be a way of controlling
my breathing & I can see an effect on my endurance after
several runs at a faster pace. It's almost like learning
to control your breathing is more of the secret to
developing lung capacity than sheer speed alone. Any
similar experience?

There are several issues in breathing. Breathing comes so
naturally that most people don't even realize that there
are different ways to do it, or that there is something to
be learned.

Diaphragmatic breathing, a.k.a. "belly breathing", is when
your lungs expand downward into your belly, and your belly
moves outward. Chest breathing is when your diaphragm and
belly remain stationary, and your chest expands outwards.
Diaphragmatic breathing is more efficient, because it
provides much greater capacity. When you do diaphragmatic
breathing, you can move a much higher volume of air into
(and out of) your lungs with each breath.

Deep breathing is when you fully empty your lungs before
inhaling the next breath. The key to getting lots of fresh
air into your lungs is to first get all (as much as
possible) of the old stale are out of your lungs. The volume
exhaled determines the volume that can be subsequently
inhaled. Diaphragmatic breathing allows much deeper
breathing. Chest breathing doesn't allow you to empty the
bottom of your lungs, and hence leads to shallow breathing.

Higher capacity is good. In order to move oxygen to your
muscles, you need to first get it into your lungs. Having
enough oxygen available in your lungs allows your
cardiovascular system to operate at maximum efficiency.

Diaphragmatic breathing is a little hard to learn. It comes
naturally. (Most people do shallow diaphragmatic breathing
when they are NOT paying attention to their breathing.) But,
when people pay attention or try to breath deeply, most
people switch to chest breathing. Learning to do deep
diaphragmatic breathing intentionally takes practice.

Many people learn how to do diaphragmatic breathing as part
of music training. To play a wind instrument, or to sing,
one must learn to breath in time with the music (phrasing),
and with sufficient volume to play/sing the phrase between
breaths. Diaphragmatic breathing is really the only way to
do that. Diaphragmatic breathing also contributes to tone
quality, both in instrumental and in voice performance.
Since phrasing and tone quality are important in music,
students are taught to do diaphragmatic breathing.

Steve

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Quoted message said:

CHRISTOPHERGUESS said:

As I inrease my pace during a run I notice myself taking
shallower breaths, with an occasional deep, satisfying
breath. Also, I notice myself breathing faster (more
breaths per minute). It seems to be a way of controlling
my breathing & I can see an effect on my endurance after
several runs at a faster pace. It's almost like learning
to control your breathing is more of the secret to
developing lung capacity than sheer speed alone. Any
similar experience?

Steve Hansen <[email hidden]> responded:

There are several issues in breathing. Breathing comes so
naturally that most people don't even realize that there
are different ways to do it, or that there is something to
be learned.

Diaphragmatic breathing, a.k.a. "belly breathing", is when
your lungs expand downward into your belly, and your belly
moves outward. Chest breathing is when your diaphragm and
belly remain stationary, and your chest expands outwards.
Diaphragmatic breathing is more efficient, because it
provides much greater capacity. When you do diaphragmatic
breathing, you can move a much higher volume of air into
(and out of) your lungs with each breath.

Deep breathing is when you fully empty your lungs before
inhaling the next breath. The key to getting lots of fresh
air into your lungs is to first get all (as much as
possible) of the old stale are out of your lungs. The volume
exhaled determines the volume that can be subsequently
inhaled. Diaphragmatic breathing allows much deeper
breathing. Chest breathing doesn't allow you to empty the
bottom of your lungs, and hence leads to shallow breathing.

Higher capacity is good. In order to move oxygen to your
muscles, you need to first get it into your lungs. Having
enough oxygen available in your lungs allows your
cardiovascular system to operate at maximum efficiency.

Diaphragmatic breathing is a little hard to learn. It comes
naturally. (Most people do shallow diaphragmatic breathing
when they are NOT paying attention to their breathing.) But,
when people pay attention or try to breath deeply, most
people switch to chest breathing. Learning to do deep
diaphragmatic breathing intentionally takes practice.

Many people learn how to do diaphragmatic breathing as part
of music training. To play a wind instrument, or to sing,
one must learn to breath in time with the music (phrasing),
and with sufficient volume to play/sing the phrase between
breaths. Diaphragmatic breathing is really the only way to
do that. Diaphragmatic breathing also contributes to tone
quality, both in instrumental and in voice performance.
Since phrasing and tone quality are important in music,
students are taught to do diaphragmatic breathing. Steve

Ozzie Gontang responded:

Steve,

Nicely stated.

I'm adding the following from a previous post that looks at
the various breathing rhythms.

I, as you mentioned, like to get people to focus on their
outbreath so that the inbreathe feels free and easy. I use
the image of creating a vacuum or negative pressure by
getting all the air out and then picturing that the
atmospheric pressure breathes me by relaxing and allowing
the diaphragm to help suck the air into the lungs.

Here's the article:

Breathing Rhythms & Patterns
c.1999, 2000 Austin "Ozzie" Gontang, Ph.D.

Next to proper running form and style and an integral part
of proper running is breathing and the rhythms of breath.

Once good running form is achieved one can keep the same
cadence and be running 30 seconds to 2+ minutes a mile
faster. The issue is getting the leg through its cycle to
touch the ground maintaining the same cadence. This is where
the concept of running is falling and catching oneself
gracefully comes into play.

To that end, breathing becomes the next important factor in
maintaining an oxygen uptake to support the increased speed
while maintaining the same cadence turnover.

This is where I teach breathing at slower speeds to a 4
steps in and 4 to 8 steps out. The idea is that I am never
panicked and that my breathing sequences are always enough
to sustain the rate of turnover...which maintains at the
same cadence be it a 9 or 10 minute mile or a 5 minute or
better mile. For the young and for top runners, most never
think about breathing. However thinking about breathing
patterns and rhythms and practicing them will allow someone
who has played with or practiced them a possible advantage
if it allows them to stayed relaxed, concentrated and
focused under extreme stress.

So running slow, I do a 4 in and 6 or 8.. Then as I need
more air I go to a 4in/8out; 1 cycle of air every 12 steps 2
cycles every 24 steps 4in/7out; 1 cycle of air every 11
steps 4in/6out; 1 cycle of air every 10 steps 4in/5out; 1
cycle of air every 9 steps 4in/4out; 1 cycle of air every 8
steps 3 cycles every 24 steps 3in/4out; 1 cycle of air every
7 steps 3in/3out; 1 cycle of air every 6 steps 4 cycles
every 24 steps 2in/3out; 1 cycle of air every 5 steps
2in/2out; 1 cycle of air every 4 steps 6 cycles every 24
steps 1in/2out; 1 cycle of air every 3 steps 8 cycles every
24 steps 1in/1out/1in/1out/2in/2out 8 cycles every 24 steps
1in/1out/1in/1out/1in/1out/1in/1out 12 cycles every 24 steps

The ideal one goes for is the same volume at all rhythms.
Remember you're always breathing though the nose even when
the mouth is open...unless your nose is blocked, i.e. nasal
congestion.

All of these patterns are breathed at a rate so that the
mind stays calm and does not let any of the body
unnecessarily tighten up from a perceived stress beyond
one's capability.

The other aspect of breathing cycles is that an even
(symmetric) breathing pattern, which means when the steps in
& steps out total an even number, the runner is always
running on the same foot at intake and also at exhale.

With an odd (asymmetric) breathing pattern, which means
when the steps in & steps out total an odd number, the
runner is running off the opposite foot at initial intake
step of each breathing cycle in-three-steps/out-four-steps;
in-three-steps/out-four-steps:

in-two-three out-two-three-four in-two-three out-two-three-
four LFT-2 - 3--RT -two-three-four RT-two-three LFT-two-three-
four LFT-two-three... L 2 3 4 5 6 7 R 2 3 4 5 6 7 L 2 3...

In animals there is a breathing pattern which is called
phase locking. It has been photographed at high speeds in
horses, cheetahs, ostriches where at full speed there is one
pattern into which they fall. In humans, if I remember from
the research, there were found two phase lock patterns at
top speed.

So you can see if you breathe 2in/2out all the time and we
speed up you can only continue to do what you do. You only
get 6 cycles of air every 24 steps. Whereas I can pick up
the speed and get 8 cycles or even 9 cycles of air every
24 steps...and if I practice I can get 10 or 12 cycles
every 24 steps.

You may begin to realize that running a marathon during the
later part of the run from 15 onwards is a matter of running
in a trance state. It is through these breathing patterns I
have taught people to play with the rhythms of their breath
to keep on going. So for someone whose muscles are glycogen
depleted I need to maintain the same running pace but
increase the amount of oxygen to those muscles...and that is
where the breathing patterns come in.

Some people begin to realize the power of rhythm. When I run
with a partner and we are doing symmetric breathing of
2in/2out or 3in/3out or 4in/4out, I do reciprocal breathing
so that after 3 or 4 minutes as they breathe out I am
breathing in and as they breathe in I am breathing out. The
sound can be heard. The experience is that the other
person's out breath is breathing me. On the next cycle my
out breath is breathing his/her in breath.

Eyes on the horizon, breathing reciprocally with my partner,
the miles covered in trance are an experience to remember.

When into the breathing and at different breathing patterns
both symmetric and asymmetric and some being reciprocal, the
breathing patterns of 3 or 4 or 5 of us mixed with the foot
touch (rather than foot fall) can carry a group of runners
easily for miles where the mind scans the body to relax any
tension as it arises and lets it go...going back to the
sound of the feet running together and the breathe of the
pack. If you've seen Stomp you know the power of rhythm!

Gleshna said:

Quoted message said:

Deep breathing is when you fully empty your lungs before
inhaling the next breath. The key to getting lots of fresh
air into your lungs is to first get all (as much as
possible) of the old stale are out of your lungs.

I read about this somewhere. The emphasis was entirely
upon forcing all of the air out of the lungs. The
assumption was that the air would automatically refill the
lungs, thus you only need to focus on the exhale.

Essentially, yes. While learning the technique of deep
diaphragmatic breathing, you focus on the exhale. Taking in
a full breath is almost automatic. After you have learned
the technique, it eventually becomes a habit. Then you don't
need to focus on it any more.

As Ozzie points out, breathing while running also inolves
rythm. The inhale and exhale each begin simultaneously with
a footfall. This comes naturally to most people. The number-of-
steps for inhale, and for exhale, can be varied depending on
your O2 needs.

In music training, it seems to take a few months for a
student to learn to breath correctly. But it takes a couple
years for it to become so habitual that the student can
forget about it and still be doing it consistently. I
haven't tried training runners. I expect the learning
periods would be about the same.

Steve